Today in publishing and literature: the Drive follow-up will be released as a paperback this summer, Jonathan Safran Foer's complicated best book of the year criteria, and why print books will always rule the skies.

Before Drive was a polarizing movie, it was a book that was published in the United States in 2005 and a year after that in the United Kingdom. Now publishers in both countries have snapped up the rights to the sequel from author James Sallis. According to The Bookseller, "the title will be published as a paperback original in June 2012 and follows the nameless protagonist of Drive seven years" after his face-stomping and pearl-handled razor shenanigans have him dodging the mob, as well as audience members who have affection for Albert Brooks. In the UK, Sallis' entire 12-book backlist will also be getting a fresh print run. [The Bookseller]

For his entry in The Millions 'Year in Reading' series, Jonathan Safran Foer selected Nicholas Carr's The Shallows was the best book he read in 2011, then immediately hedged. " "By 'best'," Foer explains, "I really just mean the book that made the strongest impression on me." See, it's those shallows again: before the Internet, nobody needed to explain what they meant by best book of the year. They just said it out loud, and Leon Uris was usually happy. Foer's choice is a good one and we understand what he's saying, but we could use a few less caveats on all of these end year lists. The people want picks, not context. [The Millions]

Tuck Everlasting -- Natalie Babbitt's classic 1975 children's novel about a young girl who's immortal but doesn't get to hang out with vampires and hunky werewolves -- could soon be a Broadway musical. According to The New York Times, it was warmly received by "theater executives who attended staged presentations of the show for producers and investors on Friday." According to sources, the producers are "aiming for Broadway next season," with Casey Nicholaw, the Tony Award-winning director of The Book of Mormon lined up to direct. The book for the show was written by Tony nominee Claudia Shear. One potential snag: The Hollywood Reporter is reporting that Nicholaw is also in discussions to direct a musical version of Austin Powers. [Arts Beat]

The recent Alec Baldwin Words With Friends kerfuffle once again has people talking about why electronic devices have to be turned off during touchdown and landing, while books get amnesty. BoingBoing makes a persuasive case for keeping the gadgets stored until you get the all-clear: "Your computer is a piece of luggage, and luggage needs to be stowed so it doesn’t kill somebody or get in the way. The same holds for iPads and Kindles. Sure, a book can weigh as much as a Kindle, but this is where the line is drawn." The lesson: print books still have powerful friends, especially in the air and in Tunica, Mississippi. [BoingBoing via Teleread]